Dorothy and the Beautiful Game
by Wombella
Summary: Alex, Gene and a dating agency that needs an investigation. What could possibly go wrong? A joint effort from Wombledon and Louella.


**Dorothy and The Beautiful Game**

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Authors' Notes**: This is a joint effort between Wombledon and Louella - Wombella, if you will. All reviews are gratefully received.

**Disclaimer**: We're using characters from the BBC's Ashes to Ashes for fun. We don't own them and didn't invent them.

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"No bloody way!"

"Come on - it'll be fun. You'll enjoy it."

"I will not."

"Of course you will. Come on."

"No! I can get a date, you know. I'm not _that_ pathetic - I don't have to rely on colleagues."

There was a small silence. "Fine." He gave his mug a cursory rinse under the tap, banged it onto the draining board, turned, and walked away.

Alex's stomach sank; they'd been joking, hadn't they? He wasn't serious - he never was. However, she'd seen something close to hurt in his eyes as he'd walked away. She hurried after him as she didn't want their banter to end on a sour note. "Gene! I didn't mean-"

But the swinging doors out of CID told her she was too late. Deflated, she returned to her desk and mentally kicked herself. She had only been teasing him and had, like him, presumed they'd check out this dodgy dating agency together but somehow he'd taken her grumpiness seriously. He didn't reappear in the office until the afternoon and to Alex it felt like he'd been gone all day.

"Right, boys and girls! Quiet!" he called as he crashed into the office and clapped his hands together. "Here's what we're going to do. Chris, you and Shaz are going to that couples thing tonight. Drake, you and Ray are going tomorrow night."

"_Him_!?"

"_Her_!?"

The two cries of dismay intermingled and Gene was not amused. "What part of _quiet_ didn't you get? You don't hear Chris and Shaz complaining, do you?" There was no reply. "Do you?"

"No, Guv," Ray mumbled.

Gene turned steely eyes on Alex. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees.

"No, Guv," she muttered, jaw clenched.

"Glad we got that sorted," he said, beaming with that sarcastic grin of his. "When you've eaten your fill, courtesy of the Met, get your arses back here and write out your notes immediately. Then, on Friday, you all spend the day comparing said notes. Who you saw, what went on, who seemed to be the contact point, all of that stuff. I don't want any of you to put a foot wrong on this, so go easy on the booze. Eyes and ears better be open. Dating agency, my arse. They're using it and that restaurant as a front for high class prozzies. I know they are and we're getting the evidence to prove it; DON'T say a word, Drake."

Alex was bewildered. "I wasn't going t-" she began.

"Good. Keep it that way," he snapped. "Chris, Shaz - clear off. Be newlyweds, be at the restaurant for 7:30 and don't be late."

"Righto, Guv." Chris gave him a nod and headed for the main doors with Shaz in tow.

"Drake, work on a plausible cover story with Raymondo here for tomorrow night."

"What?" spluttered Ray. "Chris only had to be-"

"You can be newlyweds too, if you like," said Gene, a touch of evil in his smile.

"NO!" The two cried out together again.

"See, if that'd been _'yes'_ I'd have no trouble believing you. You're in... what's the word, Bolly? 'Synch', isn't it?"

Alex glared at him when he did air quotes.

"Guv, wait-" Ray was distinctly uncomfortable.

"You'll work it out, Ray. Talking helps. Let her cry on your shoulder, bring her some flowers, rub her feet, that sort of thing. She'll be eating out of your-"

"Oh, just piss off!" spat Alex and snatching up her jacket, she stormed out of the office.

"Time of the month," said Gene, loud enough for her to hear.

Alex stopped in the corridor, hesitated, and then continued on her way, head held high. Gene felt a pang of guilt as he watched her go. He shouldn't have belittled her like that in front of Ray. Then her words from earlier came flooding back. _Pathetic_. His face hardened and the pang of guilt disappeared.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

"Weren't too bad, really, Guv," Chris concluded, sending a goofy grin in Shaz's direction. He'd just finished briefing the team on the activities of the previous evening, when he and Shaz had played young lovers at the restaurant off-shoot of the dodgy dating agency. They'd spotted a few suspicious characters and got a sense of how the operation worked. Tonight Alex and Ray would need to pin down the detailed evidence to build the case for the arrests.

"Well," said Gene, "I suppose not even you could foul up an evening pretending to be infatuated with Shaz. Good work." He retreated to his office and closed the door.

The rest of the day passed slowly, with a frosty Alex speaking to him only when asked, and by the end Gene had had more than enough. He was sick of her "Yes Guv, no Guv, three bags full Guv," routine and he wanted her out of his sight, soon as.

Raising his head at the sound of his door opening, his eyes narrowed as he looked at her. She'd changed into a silky black top and cream trousers and added some simple gold jewellery to boot. With that and the smokey make-up, she outclassed Ray like a thoroughbred to an old nag. Gene swallowed his disquiet and raised his eyebrows. "You off then?"

Alex paused for a moment before asking, "Are you sure this is a good idea, Guv? Me and Ray?"

"Come on, Drake. I'm sure you can handle him. Just do your job."

"Of course I can handle him. It's just..." She trailed off uncertainly, waiting, biting her lip. Just for a moment, Gene wondered if it was too late to change his mind. But he remained impassive and eventually Alex nodded her acceptance and walked out of his office.

He watched as she shrugged on her coat and followed Ray out of the squad room. He was right to stick with the plan. Making it an order, making the two of them go together, well, it was just another night on the job. He wasn't jealous, no matter what she looked like, wasn't that bothered about it at all. No, what bugged him was her protests yesterday about going with him. Pathetic. Along with colleague. He swirled the whisky in his glass and watched the cigarette in the ashtray smoulder to the tip.

Pathetic colleague.

He leaned forward on his desk and rested his chin in his hand. Nothing to do now except wait for them to come back. He heaved a sigh and lit another fag but he watched that one burn away to nothing too.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

Alex walked into the restaurant and glanced around, noting the muted lighting, the candles, the crystal. She wondered again why she was here with her sergeant instead of her DCI. This would be hellish.

They handed their coats to the maître d' then made their way to their table, Ray awkwardly pulling out a chair for her before sliding into his own in relief. "So... er... what are you having, then?" he asked, picking up his menu. He was aiming to get out of there as soon as was humanly possible.

"Soup to start," she replied, ignoring the way Ray's face fell, "then the steak. Rare." She looked around the room and tried to memorise the various faces. Chris and Shaz's intelligence was a good starting point but Alex was aware that there was a lot of work to be crammed into this short evening. Her reluctant date would just have to lump it.

The food was barely tolerable, the wine even less so. Alex found it hard to imagine that any of the couples at the other tables would return here from choice, but perhaps that was the point. Perhaps if you really were trying to meet your soul-mate, it didn't matter what the surroundings were like - you just kept going until you struck lucky. Dragging herself back from her wistful thoughts, she looked up and spotted Ray checking his wristwatch for the third time in ten minutes. "Somewhere else you'd rather be, darling?" she asked sweetly.

"Plenty of places, love," he responded in dulcet tones. "Preferably, a million miles away from here."

"What a coincidence," she said, smiling as though she'd just heard a declaration of love from the man of her dreams. "I wish you were there too."

"The Guv is right. You're never happy unless you get the last word in. In fact, you're never happy."

She slid her hand over his and caressed it. "I do just fine in the happiness stakes, Ray. And I don't have to sneer at, or belittle anyone, to do it."

Grimacing, already tired of this nauseating game, Ray hissed, "Look, can we go now?" He discreetly slid his hand out from under hers.

"We've only been here for an hour. It's not long enough. We won't look genuine, and besides, there's still a few faces we need to check out."

He looked at his empty plates. "I've eaten everything." She, he noted, still had half of hers left.

"You'll get indigestion from eating so quickly," she commented, cutting off another small piece of steak.

He rolled his eyes. "Maybe I'll order some dessert," he said, trying to catch the waiter's eye.

"You're supposed to wait for me," she whispered.

"Yes, Sir?" The waiter materialised at his side.

"Can I've some more water, please?" he fudged, wishing Alex would just hurry the hell up so they could go.

She sliced off another minuscule piece of meat and chewed carefully before taking a delicate sip of wine. He rolled his eyes again and suppressed an irritated sigh.

The waiter returned and placed a water jug on the table and left them to it. He could tell that this was a couple that was not going to work.

Ray watch her chew her meat slowly. "Are you just trying to piss me off?"

"Shut it, Carling," she said with her most winning smile although her voice was venomous. "If this steak didn't taste like old shoes then I wouldn't think I was about to choke with every bite. I'm doing you a favour by not sending it back and getting something else."

"If you don't like it, just leave it and then can we order dessert? Nobody new has come in here in the past half hour, the same ten couples are still here - you've seen 'em, I've seen 'em and waiting for much longer is pointless. You're doing my nut in, eating like that." He patted her hand with pretend affection.

"Fine. Christ, just order already and stop moaning," she replied with another sweet smile and placed her knife and fork on her plate.

They both ordered some rather flat lemon meringue and ate in silence, small talk an impossibility. Nobody else came into the restaurant and for a dating agency, everyone seemed pretty cosy with each other. Well matched. Ray gestured for the bill and their coats at the same time.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

They didn't say a word to each other as they waited for a taxi and the ten minutes stretched for an eternity. Finally one arrived and soon they were off, speeding towards Fenchurch.

Ray stared out the window as London flashed and zig-zagged by, aided by the taxi driver's jabs on the accelerator and erratic swings of the steering wheel.

Alex knew that the operation had been successful. They'd figured out how the dating agency organised the prostitution and who the main players were. The faces detailed in Chris and Shaz's reports were the same - only the punters had changed. No way was that a coincidence. She should have been pleased, but she couldn't get over the knot of disappointment in her stomach. The evening had been a trial, from start to finish, and despite the positive outcome, she'd hated every minute. Glancing over at Ray, she admitted that only some of the blame could be laid at the door of her dining companion. Granted, he hadn't exactly made much effort to charm her, but that was only part of it. The fact was, no matter how much she tried to deny it, it was not Ray's fault that he wasn't Gene.

Sod this. Now or never. "Why do you dislike me so much?"

"What?"

She just looked at him, knowing he had heard her.

Ray shrugged. "I don't dislike you. I just... look, you don't like me but do I care? No. Typical bird. Everyone has to love you."

"Complete bollocks," she scoffed. "You don't even respect me as your DI. You've got a problem with women and-"

"Can we not do this, Drake? Christ, you're never happy unless you're analysing something. Gives me brainache. Gives us all brainache. Is that what you poshos like to do all the time?"

The taxi turned for Fenchurch. "Just here is fine," she called, desperate to get away from Ray before he saw how his words stung. The driver pulled up with a sudden stab on the brakes.

"You sure, love?"

"Yes, thanks," she replied and thrust a fiver into his hand.

He rummaged for her change but Alex was long gone. Ray stayed where he was. "Just continue down to the end of this road, mate. Thanks."

"She was a right looker. Sorry, mate," said the driver as the cab moved off. Ray got out near the station and made his solitary way into CID. Everywhere was dark apart from the light in the Guv's office. Great. Just great. Gene was already on his feet.

"Where's Drake?"

Ray shrugged. "Dunno. She got out up the road. Women."

"Christ, it wasn't even a real date and you still fucked it up," said Gene with a glower. "Right, well, as only one of you bothered to come back, you may as well fill me in."

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

"Drake!" He hammered on the door again.

"WHAT?" she cried and flung the door open. It bounced against the wall.

"Where the hell were you?" he barked at her. "I was bloody well waiting for you and you were supposed to come back to the station, Drake, or did that instruction manage to escape you?"

She sighed deeply. "Sorry, Guv. I just had to get some air," she said, looking completely defeated. "I have all the notes written up, though."

He stepped by her and saw the small table was covered with paper and decided to cut her some slack. "Fine. Well, how'd it go then?"

"We had a fabulous time."

Gene gave her a stare. "Not quite the awful evening you were expecting, then?"

The hurt of Gene's rejection still stung and for a moment she just wanted to hurt him back. Smiling coyly, she told him, "Ray can be quite the gentleman when he's away from the station. I saw another side to him."

"I'm sure."

"Believe what you like. We had a good night - Ray's quite funny when he wants to be."

After a beat, Gene stepped back and away. "Right. Well. I'm glad you had a good time. Hope you'll both be very happy. Brief me about this tomorrow." He had a hand on the door handle before she understood he was leaving.

"What... Gene-"

"Yes?" he interrupted, exasperation evident.

"What is _up_ with you?"

He heaved a sigh. "It's late and I'm not in form for your mind games so save it until tomorrow, will you? And next time, Drake, when I tell you to come back to the station after an op, then that's exactly what you do."

Now it was Alex's turn to sigh. "You know I had a horrible evening. Ray's a misogynistic arse."

Gene shrugged. "You're not telling something I don't know but Ray knows how to get things done. Wish you'd try to like him. Two years of your bickering has just about done me in."

"Oh, how _awful_ for you," she said sarcastically.

"Look, Bolly-"

"Why did you chicken out? Why did you send me with him?"

"ME? You're the one who made it perfectly clear that I'm too pathetic for you to-"

Her mouth fell open in disbelief. "I did no such thing!"

He gave her a long look. "Yeah. Whatever. Goodnight, Drake, see you Mond-"

"No!" she cried, stamping her foot in frustration. "NO! You are not walking away from me."

"Awww. Ickle Lady Princess Knickers can't get what she wants. Well, that's Too. Frigging. Bad." The venom and hurt in his voice showed how annoyed he was.

In a split second, Alex wanted to slap him but then the anger vanished as quickly as it arose only to be replaced by hurt and sadness. She took a step back from him and the silence seemed to grow louder in the flat.

"That's all I am to you lot, isn't it? Posh Princess," she whispered. "I see."

"Oh, don't be such a whiner, Drake. You're talking bollocks as usual."

She turned large, tear filled eyes on him. "I'm not, though. You are."

Gene blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I never said you were pathetic. I never, _ever_, said that. And I never would."

"Hang on a minute, Missus Woman. You said you weren't so pathetic that you needed to go out with a colleague, if I remember correctly. Which I do, by the way. So, thanks very much for the back-handed compliment."

"Gene, I was teasing you! As well you know."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really!"

"And all the other times when there were 'back handed compliments', you were teasing me then too?"

She was mystified. "What other-"

"Exactly. Goodnight, Alex." He moved towards the door but she moved quicker and stood in front of it, blocking his path.

"You are the singularly the most infuriating, insufferable, stubborn and conceited _OAF_ of a man I have ever met. As if you were ever once serious about asking me out. Why not just ask me, for heaven's sake? Why the games? Why the pretence? How am I to know if you're serious or not when all you ever do is tease me?"

"Because you think all this is joke. You think it's all beneath you."

"No, _you think_ I think it's beneath me!" she cried.

"I do not!" he exploded. "I do _not_ think that you think that I think... oh, _FUCK this_!" He threw up his hands. "This is ridiculous!"

Alex smiled and then they both suddenly spluttered with laughter - he was right - what a stupid, ridiculous argument. "Who's thinking what, then?" she asked, wiping laughter tears away.

"Bolls, I don't give a shit," he replied with a warm grin, heading into the kitchen and helping himself to the tea things. He popped two slices of bread into the toaster and switched the kettle on.

She followed him and rummaged in the fridge for some cheese. "God, I'm so hungry. That restaurant was lousy. Could've fixed that hole in the sole of your boot with my steak. Yuck - Christ, this could walk out of here..." she reached around and threw the cheese in the bin. "Eggs? Damn, I've none left. Oh, what's this... _urgh_..." After a cautious sniff from Alex, the something else landed in the bin with a thud.

"Do you want to go out for something?"

She looked up him and saw he was leaning against the kitchen cabinets, trying to look nonchalant and failing miserably. "What, now?"

"No, a week next Tuesday. Of course now."

It was cruel to leave him hanging. "Okay then. Yes. I'd love to."

There was a small silence in the kitchen as they looked at each other. Then they both jumped as the toast popped up.

"Something better than toast?" he asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Yes. I'd like that. Er... yes," she stammered, shy all of a sudden. She backed away from the fridge, bumped noisily into a chair and it tipped over with a crash. In her haste to pick it up, she narrowly missed clattering straight into the door jamb. _Great, Alex. The klutz strikes again. Fool._

For some reason, seeing Alex flustered, gave him courage. She was as nervous about this as he was.

"'s only me, Bolls. We've had dinner lots of times." This wasn't the same, he knew it, she knew it, but he was allowing her the chance to escape with both of their dignities still intact. He couldn't meet her eyes. _Focus on the floor, numbnuts. Don't look pathetic._

The tips of her slippers came into focus and he could hardly believe it when her palm caressed his cheek. "'s only me," she whispered, "only you."

"Isn't there an ABBA song about that?" he said, a small smile on his lips.

"That's _Knowing me, Knowing you_," she corrected, her thumb lightly stroking along his jaw.

"It's a crap song, and all." His hand had settled on the curve of her waist.

"It's about a break-up."

"Still crap," he muttered, eyes scanning her face.

"Didn't say it wasn't," she replied, inching closer to him as she linked her arms around his neck. She was angling her head up towards his when a loud knock at the door drew them quickly apart. Their eyes met as they heard the the raised voice of a worried Italian.

"Signorina Drake, it's Luigi. Signorina?"

Gene heaved a sigh. "I'll get it."

Alex's eyes widened. "But Gene-"

Too late. Gene was already at the door. "Yes, Luigi?"

"Oh, Sign... _Signor Hunt!_" Luigi positively beamed.

"Yes?"

"Scusi, scusi, Signor. My wife, she was concerned about Signorina Drake earlier as she was crying and we now heard a crash but you..."

Gene took it all in his stride. "Not my fault this time, Luigi but she's fine, thanks. It's sorted. We're, um. Well, I think we're going out for some grub now." He sent a questioning look in Alex's direction and he wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed when she nodded back.

Luigi peered around him to see a smiling if slightly confused looking Alex. "Out?" he smiled. "Out? So late? No, no, no, no. You come downstairs. Is no-one there."

"Er... no, thanks-"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Luigi interrupted him in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "Come, come."

Alex had heard enough. "I'll just go and get ready-"

"Signorina, you no need to get dressed up for Luigi's. Come, yes. I have many good things left for you both."

Gene turned around, smiled at her and raised his eyebrows. "What about it, Bolly? Midnight feast in your jimjams?"

She shrugged with a twinkle in her eye. "Lead on."

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

An hour later, Luigi was loathe to interrupt them. Alex was curled up on one of the cushioned benches with Gene sitting opposite her, an easy companionship growing between them as they ate and drank. Luigi watched as Gene growled something inaudible, something evidently outrageous and entertaining, and Alex laughed and flicked a bit of bread roll at him. It lodged in his hair and, as she reached forward to remove it, he caught her hand in his for a moment, stroking his thumb across her palm. Luigi smiled at them from behind the bar, strategically placing himself behind a pillar so he wouldn't intrude.

It wasn't until his wife appeared behind him, curlers peeping out beneath her hairnet and a frown on her face as she pointed at her wrist, that he stirred. "Si, si," he whispered, shooing her away. "Saro li presto." He picked up a tray and wondered across to their table, smiling apologetically as he bent down to clear away the remnants of their meal.

"Scusi, Signorina, Signor. My wife, she want me to close properly. Doesn't like to sleep until she knows I am there." He fussed over the table, picking up plates and glasses, hoping that his best customers wouldn't let this opportunity pass them by. "Will I leave the key?"

"No, it's okay, Luigi. We're done," replied Gene, secretly hoping that they were only getting started.

"Thanks, Luigi," said Alex, her foot toying with the bottom of Gene's trouser leg. Things were about to get interesting.

Luigi knew when to beat a hasty retreat and finally melted away as Gene's gaze hooked Alex's across the table. "I'll see you up." It wasn't a question.

They were silent as they made their way to her flat and if Alex's hand shook slightly as she turned the key, well, it was late, she was in her pyjamas and there was a chill in the air. She turned the handle and pushed open the door, standing back to allow him through first. Alex made her way into the kitchen, reaching into the cabinet for a bottle of scotch and a couple of tumblers. "Nightcap?" she asked, turning around, only to discover Gene standing close behind her, staring down at her, his gaze flicking from her eyes to her lips and back again.

"You done arguing with me?"

Close enough now to feel his breath on her lips, she whispered, "For now."

He kissed her, finally, feather light. "Good."

Alex kissed him back, equally gently but for a bit longer. "Better."

His hands cupped her head and this time he didn't stop until they both came up for air. "Much better," he gasped, keeping her tight against him so she couldn't escape and take her warmth with her.

Alex threaded her fingers though the hair at the back of his neck and kissed him again and again until he spun her around and pressed her against the counter. A colander landed on the floor with a clang.

"Shit -sor-" was as much as he could get out before their lips met again in a consuming kiss.

Grabbing at the counter for balance, Alex knocked a jar of utensils into the sink and Gene somehow got the rings of the gas hob entangled in his sleeve. A saucepan tipped over and followed the colander to the floor with a much louder clatter.

They broke apart and stared at each other, breathless and dishevelled, each shocked at their response to the other. Gene was gob-smacked - he didn't do this. Not with someone he actually gave a shit about. Didn't even do it if he was after a quickie. This... this happened in films - it _did not_ happen to him. Alex was stunned too. She could count on one hand the number of times someone had kissed the breath out of her like that. Wouldn't even need to use all the fingers on the hand either.

She touched the tips of her fingers to her lips, felt the pounding of the blood through her body and the strength of the man alongside her. Smiling, she reached out a hand to the back of his neck, tugging him down to her once more. He caught her smile with his lips, his tongue snaking into her mouth as his arms wrapped around her, holding her tight against him, pressing himself into her curves. In this moment, she had no doubts. This was where she wanted to be.

As if sensing her thoughts, he pulled gently away and took her hand - was he reading the signals correctly? Did she-

Alex could see the half formed question and before he got a chance to finish the thought she grasped his hand tightly, kissed him again and lead him through to the bedroom. Nothing mattered now but the fire between them. He stood before her, unbuttoning her pyjama top, slowly revealing the silken skin beneath, hissing in a breath as he pushed the shirt from her shoulders. She was beautiful, and tonight at least she would be his.

She groaned as he continued to kiss her chin, cheeks, nose and then paused. His eyes never leaving hers, he put his hands to her waist and slid his hands beneath the elastic of her pyjama bottoms and pushed them down and over the smooth flare of her hips. The trousers slipped from her body and pooled at her feet. She kicked them away, her chin high, a tiny smile on her lips. She didn't need to ask; could tell by the darkness of his gaze, the tightening of his jaw, that he approved.

Easing closer, she returned the favour, unbuttoning his shirt, pulling his belt through its loops. In her eagerness she fumbled, struggling with the button at his waist, and he covered her hands with his, pushing the button through the hole, lowering the zip.

Her touch was almost unbearable, igniting fires across his body, making him dizzy with need. They fell together to the bed, hands and mouths exploring, murmurs of desire puncturing the air as they drove each other onwards. Gasping, moaning, she wrapped her legs around him, and looked up at him with such a trusting gaze that he felt... unworthy. Her hand curled around the back of his head again and she made him meet her gaze, reaching up with her other hand to cup his jaw.

"Have you any idea what you are to me?" she breathed.

Gene didn't know what to say, what to think - he couldn't think. Everything about this moment was beyond anything he could ever have dreamt of so he did the only thing that seemed right. He kissed her again with everything he had.

She tilted her hips a little, her eyes sliding closed as he pushed deeper, holding her head steady between his hands. She held him tight as he began to move, slowly at first then faster, harder, instinct taking over, conscious thought gone. The release, when it came, was exquisite, a series of blinding flashes that left her weak. Even as her own body was relaxing she could feel him follow her, her name ground out as he shuddered into her, collapsing, breathless, alongside her.

He pulled her into the nook of his shoulder and pressed exhausted kisses on the top of her head. Smiling, she propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at him.

"Didn't expect that."

Gene swallowed a chuckle. "No. Was good, though."

"Yeah," she whispered with a shy smile. "Very good."

He closed his eyes and smiled in contentment as he played with some of her hair.

"Tired?" she asked, tracing a finger along his face.

"Excellently so," he rumbled. "C'mere, Bolls." He pulled her back into his shoulder again.

"Gene?"

"Hmmm."

"Are we going to do this again?" Her voice sounded small.

"That's the plan," he replied and cracked one eye open. "You going to argue?"

"No. Sounds fine to me." She yawned loudly.

He loved the feeling of her pressing herself closer and he dropped a final kiss onto her head. "Night, Bolls."

"G'night... no snoring."

"I appreciate that, Bolly, thanks. I like a quiet night."

She snorted a laugh.

"_Quiet_, you," he said and hugged her.

Smiling, she pulled the duvet up around their shoulders and then both drifted off for a few hours before putting their plan into action again.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

There was no time for anything interesting the following morning as they hurried for work. Two nights of confirmatory surveillance in the restaurant was about to pay off and the dating agency, aka, brothel, was raided at lunchtime. When they got back to CID and interviews had been conducted, Gene declared that it was time for a liquid lunch, soon as.

In Luigi's, Alex was unsure whether she should sit with him on one of the long benches or not. However, when Gene saw her coming, balancing a bottle of red and two glasses, he moved down, clearly indicating that she should sit beside him. The banter flowed around the table in accordance with the drinks. As Alex got up to buy a round, Ray met her at the bar.

"Evening, Ma'am."

"Ray," she replied curtly. "Same again, Luigi, please."

"So... er..." Ray coughed and murmured something inaudible. "Sorryaboutlastnight."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

Ray sucked in his cheeks. "Last night. Sorry."

She gave a one shouldered shrug. "It's fine."

He drummed his fingers on the bar. "Look, Ma'am, I reckon we can work together but I just don't think we're the socialising sort."

Alex fixed him with an icy look. "We _were_ working, Ray, not socialising. If you ever want to make DI, suck it up, Sergeant and do your job. All you had to do was pretend and you couldn't even manage that. You let the team down and you let the Guv down. Don't let it happen again."

"I know I let the Guv down - he gave me a right bollocking last night for... well, for fucking things up. We were just lucky that the brothel madam hadn't got enough sense to swap her girls around, so we saw the same ones as Chris and Shaz."

"Exactly. Otherwise, we could've been in for one long evening."

"It won't happen again, Ma'am."

"Good."

"Truce?" He offered his hand.

"Truce," she replied and shook it.

"The natives are getting restless - where are the drinks?" growled Gene from behind her.

"Just getting them, Guv," said Ray, reaching for the tray of drinks and handing Luigi a tenner, passing Alex's money back to her.

"Good man," said Gene in approval and moving closer to Alex, he rested a hand on her hip.

She turned her head to look at him with a surprised smile and Ray pretty much snatched the tray off the bar and scuttled back to the table.

"Best way to do it," breathed Gene in her ear. "Watch."

She laughed in amusement as the gossip spread through the assembled CID crowd. They couldn't be more obvious about "not looking" if they tried.

"What a motley crew," she said quietly. "Want to give them something more to look at?"

Gene's eyes widened.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a peck on the cheek," she dead-panned.

"Oh," he said, somewhat relieved. "Well, that I can do." He bent down and did the honours, taking rather longer than strictly necessary.

She reached around, touched his cheek lightly and then, highly amused, they left the trattoria together, both hardly able to keep a straight face as the whispering intensified when they reached the doorway.

They had also unwittingly gifted Ray fifty quid; once his senior officers were out of sight he punched the air and collected his winnings. Pay dirt.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

"They're supposed to be detectives," said Gene, once they'd reached her flat. "We could've gone on for months, playing it cool, and they _never_ would've guessed."

"I had no intention of playing it cool," she replied, sliding her hands across his shoulders and wrapping her arms around his neck. He lowered his mouth to hers and planted a soft kiss on her lips, then a not-so-soft one that left her breathless.

"Nice," she murmured with a smile. "Better than Ray."

"Very funny." He paused for a moment. "You _are_ joking, I hope?"

She shook her head and took hold of his hand. "What gets into your head, Gene? Ray and me? God..." she shuddered involuntarily. "You must have known I'd have gone to that dating thing with you. That I had every intention of going with you - I even bought new, er, clothes."

"Did you? They were pretty - didn't know-"

"Not the clothes you saw in the office. Clothes for here - for afters."

"Oh," was all he could manage, visions of Alex in sexy underwear filling his brain. "Oh..."

"I was even looking forward to it," she whispered, twirling some of his hair around her finger with her free hand. "Weren't you?"

"Yeah but..." he began and studied their intertwined fingers.

"But what?"

"Us? At a dating agency? On a pretend date for work?"

"So?"

He rubbed his forehead. "It's such a bloody cliché, Bolly. Despite what I said, it wouldn't have been much fun. Not for me. I didn't want a fake date with you, I wanted a real one. And the whole thing just stunk like a bad episode of that Scarecrow & Mrs King shite you watch."

"You're not the Scarecrow, Gene. You're the Lion," she replied, squeezing his hand.

"The Cowardly Lion? Me?" Laughter danced in his eyes.

"But the Cowardly Lion was the bravest of them all at the end. Took a chance. Like you."

He wrapped his arm around her waist. "And what about you, Dorothy? Where do you fit into all of this?"

"I fit right here," she replied, resting her head against his shoulder. "Didn't think I did. Fought it for a long time but I find I quite like it after all."

"Do you though?"

She nodded and reached up to kiss him again. "Um hmm. 'Specially if we do this on a regular and frequent basis."

He chuckled. "I'll check my social diary to be on the safe side but I think I'm free every night for the foreseeable future. _Almost_ every night," he corrected himself. "City might be playing away-"

Alex kissed his throat. "Tell you what - as long as you don't play away, I'll overlook the occasional City game."

He gathered her close to him. "Me? Play away? Nah - when it comes to football with you, I'll keep my balls close to home."

She laughed breathily into his ear. "Red card for the atrocious sex metaphor, Gene."

"Awww, _Ref_!" he protested, nipping lightly at her neck as his hands traced down her back and made her shiver. Her reaction made him pull her tighter against him and she was left in no doubt about how much he wanted her.

"We better move this to the bedroom," she gasped out, pushing his jacket from his shoulders and kicking off her shoes. "Or one of us is going to score an own goal."

They staggered through the bedroom door, pulling at clothes and flinging them away. "They don't call it 'the beautiful game' for nothing, Dorothy," he said with a rumble as he gazed down at her on the bed.

She laughed loudly and wrapped her arms and legs around him, before kissing him deeply, delighted at her discovery. As it turned out, clichéd fake dates had their uses, especially if you went with the wrong man.

**THE END**


End file.
